Digital Commemorations of Slave Revolt

Abstract

Abstract This article presents, troubles, and ultimately seeks to answer two simple questions: What does the digitization of slave resistance look like, and can it serve as a virtual memorial commemorating historic events where markers are lacking in geographic places, such as locations where slave revolts occurred? In four main parts, this article presents an example of digital commemoration of slave resistance in a now defunct online list of shipboard rebellions; it then contrasts this digital resource to material monuments to slave revolt leaders and to diverse types of museum displays (as at the International Museum of Slavery at Liverpool); the next section profiles online resources about slave revolt, including Vincent Brown’s animated map of slave insurrections in Jamaica and repositories, archives, and databases of newspaper advertisements for runaways, arguing that these resources can sometimes be understood not merely as educational tools but also as digital commemorations of slave revolt. Finally, engaging with theory on monuments, memory, and history, this piece explains why digital commemorations existing in virtual space might productively acknowledge our discomfort with the existent archive and the insurmountable gaps in our knowledge of history.